Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-03-25

which, it will be observed, does not grant
direct pecuniary aid to agriculture, but
still materially assists it by furnishing the
necessary information whereby the farmer
may the better act his part, make fewer
mistakes, and suffer less imposition, es-
pecially in the purchase and application of
commercial fertilizers. Nor is the infor-
nation proposed to be furnished by it con
fined to the subject of fertilization alone.
Section of the bill is as follows:
Sec. 9. IL shall be the object and duty
of said experiment stations to conduct
original researches or verify experiments
on the physiology of plants and animals
the diseases to which they are severally
subject, with the remedies for the same
the chemical composition of useful plants
at their different stages of growth the
comparative advantages of rotative crop
ping as pursued under a varying series of
crops the capacity of new plants or trees
for acclimation within the isothermal
limits represented by the climate of the
several stations and their vicinity the
analysis of soils and water ; the chemical
composition of lTanures, natural or artlf-
cial, with experiments designed to test
their comparative effects on crops of diff
ferent kinds the adaptation and value of
grasses and forage plants the compost
ton and digestibllty of the different
kinds of food for domestic animals f.; the
scientific and economic questions involved
in the production OF butter and cheese
and such other researches or experiments
bearing directly on the agricultural indus
try of the United States as may in each
case be deemed advisable, having due re.
gard to the varying conditions and needs
of the respective states and territories.
Now here is provision for experiments
entering into every department of agricul
ture. And section , provides as follows
for giving to the public all information
gained from these experiments :.
Sec. s. That in order to make the re.
suits of the work of said stations immedi-
ately useful, they shall publish at least
once in every three months bulletins or
reports of progress, one copy of which
shall be sent to each newspaper in the
states and territories in which they are
respectively located, and to such individ
uals actually engaged in farming as may
request the same, and as far as the means
of the station will permit. Such bulle-
tins or reports and the annual reports of
said stations shall be transmitted in the
mails of the United States free of charge
for postage under such regulations as the
postmaster general may from time to time
prescribe.
section authorizes an annual appro-
priatiOn of $4,000 to each state and terri
tory for the establishment and mainte-
nance of an experiment station therein
and the PRONUNCIATION of this important
information. Does some one ask why this
should be done at the public expense If
so, then | answer for the reason that on
all accounts the public is interested in a
thrifty, progressive agriculture. For the
reason, also, that those engaged IN the
tolsome pursuit of cultivating the soil,
from which only small profits are realized,
are entitled to the assistance which this
information would furnish them infor-
nation not otherwise within their reach
and valuable to them beyond all proper
tn ba nf tn ha
ment, And not alone valuable to them,
but valuable to the government itself for
by how much the agricultural lands of
the country are increased in fertility and
productiveness by 50 much is the taxable
wealth of the country increased.
BY so much, also, is our export trade in
creased, for any surplus of production is
sure to find outlet in foreign markets, and
bring back into the channels of trade so
much more gold and silver, thereby in
creasng by 50 much the circulating me-
dunn of the country making money more
plenty and the rate of interest lower.
Does some one say this is magnifying too
much our agricultural products in the
trade of the world Let us see.
In 1880 the total expert of domestic pro-
auctions from the United States was SS23-
946, 353, of which the products of the farm
were $3.50, 96l ,09l, or S325 per cent of the
whole amount.
four-iitths of all we sell to foreign cOun-
tries is the product of agriculture And
remember that as with the individual so
it is with us as nation ; we are richer,
not by what we produce and ourselves
consume but by what we sell to the other
nations of the earth a; for that and that
alone draws from their supply of cash and
adds to our own. Surely in an economic
point of view alone it must be for the in
terest of the American people to foster and
keep thrifty an industry which enables us
in our trade with the world 10 keep bal
ance constantly in our favor. And who
will say that an industry of this national
is not worthy of national
protection Who will say that it can be
safely neglected in the administration of
the affairs of the government Who will
CLAIM that it is sound public policy, saying
nothing OF what is fair, to leave to its own
the agriculture of this coun-
try, with soil every year growing less
fertile and consequently more dependent
upon the mysterious aid of chemical quail
tiles which it does not possess, as well as
more thorough cultivation ; all of which
depends in turn upon more hard work
and more careful inquiry into the secret
operations of nature, including the occult
question of plant food and the mystery of
plant growth
! say, who will claim that an industry
in which centre such vast possibilities of
wealth, not because of its extreme prohta-
bleness, but because it aggregates the
small individual earnings of just about
One-half our entire population : an indus
try involving so largely the questions of
demand and supply, of taxation and labor,
and trade and finance, and whose province
it is through its vast army of hard work
ers, ito keep and dress the EARTH" and
gather the fruits thereof for all men who
will say, in short. that this industry, es-
sential alike to the success of government
and the support of the race, is not enti
tied to the small assistance afforded by
this bill
Mr. Speaker, this is one of the most i'm
portant measures, if not the most i'm
portant, which has engaged the attention
of this Congress. 1t takes by the forelock
the problem which is now perpleXing the
older nations of the earth, and which soon
er or later will be brought home to the
American people, namely: How to sub
sist dense population upon land that has
been long time cropped 1t will not be
forgotten that population is a prime ele
ment of empire, but with population comes
always the problem of food and raiment
and shelter And that legislation is wisest